@article{little_gragson_2023, title={Nationally Representative Evidence on the Association Between Preschool and School-Based Parental Involvement in Elementary School}, ISSN={["1552-3896"]}, DOI={10.1177/08959048231167169}, abstractNote={Increasing school-based parental involvement—which has links to improved student outcomes like academic achievement—is a core area of focus in many preschool programs. Yet, little research to date has examined what the association is between attending preschool and school-based parental involvement in early elementary school. This study addresses this gap by drawing on nationally-representative data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Class of 2010 to 2011 ( N = 18,174) to examine the association between preschool attendance and measures of school-based parental involvement in early elementary school. The findings reveal consistent positive associations between preschool attendance and school-based parental involvement. There is little evidence of variation in associations based on the type (e.g., private and Head Start) or location (e.g., center-based and school-based) of the preschool program.}, journal={EDUCATIONAL POLICY}, author={Little, Michael and Gragson, Austin}, year={2023}, month={Apr} }
 @article{little_gragson_2023, title={State leaders in early childhood education: Perspectives on instructional policy supports and alignment}, volume={63}, ISSN={["1873-7706"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.ecresq.2022.12.016}, journal={EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY}, author={Little, Michael and Gragson, Austin}, year={2023}, pages={288–298} }
 @article{gottfried_little_ansari_2023, title={Student-Teacher Ethnoracial Matching in the Earliest Grades: Benefits for Executive Function Skills?}, ISSN={["1556-6935"]}, DOI={10.1080/10409289.2023.2172674}, abstractNote={Research Findings: The purpose of this study is to advance our understanding of student-teacher ethnoracial matching in early elementary school by exploring two executive function outcomes – working memory and cognitive flexibility. Drawing on nationally-representative, longitudinal sample of kindergartners (N = 18,170) from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study – Kindergarten Class of 2011, we relied on a fixed effects methodology and found student-teacher ethnoracial matching benefits on working memory skills, though not on cognitive flexibility. Observed associations for working memory are of similar size to those for academic achievement outcomes and are largest for Black and Latinx students. Policy or Practice: The benefits of student-teacher ethnoracial matching on academic outcomes—ranging from academic achievement to postsecondary attainment—are well documented. Yet, we know far less about the role of student-teacher ethnoracial matching on human development. This study helps to address this missing understanding of the importance of teacher diversity in supporting students’ outcomes.}, journal={EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT}, author={Gottfried, Michael and Little, Michael and Ansari, Arya}, year={2023}, month={Mar} }
 @article{bratsch-hines_cohen-vogel_little_lindsay_carr_2023, title={Teacher-child racial/ethnic match from prekindergarten through first grade: Understanding early exposure and outcomes}, volume={63}, ISSN={["1873-7706"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.ecresq.2022.12.004}, journal={EARLY CHILDHOOD RESEARCH QUARTERLY}, author={Bratsch-Hines, Mary and Cohen-Vogel, Lora and Little, Michael and Lindsay, Constance A. and Carr, Robert}, year={2023}, pages={145–155} }
 @article{griffard_sadler_little_-vogel_2022, title={Governing early learning among the American states}, volume={143}, ISSN={["1873-7765"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.childyouth.2022.106625}, abstractNote={Researchers have posited that possible explanations that contribute to the variability in Pre-K program quality and subsequent mixed results in terms of student outcomes include, among others, an uncoordinated Pre-K delivery system and misalignment between the Pre-K and K-12 sectors. This study investigates one mechanism by which states attempt to resolve challenges resulting from mixed delivery and vertical misalignment: their governance structures, as identified by Kagan’s (2015) as one mechanism in the systems-focused model for the provision of high-quality early education. By collecting and analyzing documents from all 50 states, we describe how early learning is governed across the U.S. Finding variability, we organize state governance structures into a five-category taxonomy. We then analyze the mission statement, scope, and goals of each state’s early childhood council and find only a small subset address issues related to vertical alignment. The findings take on added significance as Congress debates the American Families Plan, the Biden Administration’s initiative that would partner with states to offer free, high-quality preschool to all of the nation’s three- and four-year-olds.}, journal={CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW}, author={Griffard, Megan Rauch and Sadler, James and Little, Michael and -Vogel, Lora Cohen}, year={2022}, month={Dec} }
 @article{pentimonti_attaway_little_holod_buysse_walker_bigelow_2022, title={Impacts of a Parent-Implemented Language Intervention on Children's Language Development Within Home Visiting}, volume={35}, ISSN={["1550-5081"]}, DOI={10.1097/IYC.0000000000000224}, abstractNote={The purpose of this study was to conduct a pilot randomized controlled trial to evaluate the efficacy of an intervention for enhancing the language development of young children enrolled in home visiting programs. The participants were 59 children (18–30 months old) enrolled in one of three types of home visiting programs. Children's language skills were assessed pre- and post-intervention with the Preschool Language Scale. To estimate the impacts of the intervention on children's language scores, we conducted a two-level hierarchical linear model. Results from this model provide promising evidence for the benefits of using systematic parent-implemented language interventions.}, number={4}, journal={INFANTS & YOUNG CHILDREN}, author={Pentimonti, Jill and Attaway, Danielle Shaw and Little, Michael Harris and Holod, Aleksandra and Buysse, Virginia and Walker, Dale and Bigelow, Kathryn}, year={2022}, pages={285–302} }
 @article{cohen-vogel_sadler_little_merrill_curran_2022, title={The Adoption of Public Pre-Kindergarten among the American States: An Event History Analysis}, volume={36}, ISSN={["1552-3896"]}, DOI={10.1177/0895904820961002}, abstractNote={Over the past few decades, we have witnessed a surge in publicly funded pre-K programs in the United States. Today, policy makers in 45 states and the District of Columbia have adopted them. Combining information from twelve datasets, we use event history analysis (EHA) to examine the influence of a set of predictors on states’ decisions to adopt public pre-K. Findings indicate that party dominance in the legislature, legislative professionalism, and unemployment rates are associated with pre-K adoption; regional proximity to previously adopting states is also significant. The authors discuss implications for policy makers and advocates considering future legislative action in the early childhood education sector, including the expansion of pre-K eligibility requirements.}, number={6}, journal={EDUCATIONAL POLICY}, author={Cohen-Vogel, Lora and Sadler, James and Little, Michael H. and Merrill, Becca and Curran, F. Chris}, year={2022}, month={Sep}, pages={1407–1439} }
 @article{garber_foster_little_cohen-vogel_bratsch-hines_burchinal_2022, title={Transition Practices of Rural Pre-K and Kindergarten Teachers and Their Relations to Children's Academic and Social Skills}, ISSN={["1556-6935"]}, DOI={10.1080/10409289.2022.2026191}, abstractNote={Research Findings: The present study examined the transition practices reported by 59 pre-kindergarten (pre-k) and 186 kindergarten teachers in the rural Southeastern United States, and asked if transition practices related to skills at the beginning and end of kindergarten for 387 children. Analyses indicated kindergarten teachers offered more transition practices than pre-k teachers, and the transition practices children received varied depending on the students served. Pre-k settings with more students from families with low incomes were more likely to hold individual meetings with parents but less likely to offer classroom visits and orientations. Kindergarten teachers in schools with higher proportions of ethnically and racially minoritized students were more likely to engage in classroom visits and sharing individual child data. Although overall we found little to no association with child outcomes, data sharing on individual children was associated with higher literacy skills at entry to kindergarten. Practice or Policy: This study raises several future directions for policy and practice related to school transitions. Although most transition practices are designed to help children feel better about moving into kindergarten, it appears that some practices, such as data sharing, may also improve school readiness skills, making them a promising focus for future policy investments.}, journal={EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT}, author={Garber, Kylie L. and Foster, Tiffany J. and Little, Michael H. and Cohen-Vogel, Lora and Bratsch-Hines, Mary and Burchinal, Margaret R.}, year={2022}, month={Jan} }
 @article{little_drake_cohen-vogel_eagle_2022, title={When School Doesn’t Start at Age 5: Elementary Principal Leadership of Pre-K Programs in Schools}, volume={123}, ISSN={["1554-8279"]}, DOI={10.1086/720563}, number={1}, journal={Elementary School Journal}, author={Little, M. and Drake, T.A. and Cohen-Vogel, L. and Eagle, J.}, year={2022}, month={Sep}, pages={176–202} }
 @article{cohen-vogel_little_jang_burchinal_bratsch-hines_2021, title={A Missed Opportunity? Instructional Content Redundancy in Pre-K and Kindergarten}, volume={7}, ISSN={["2332-8584"]}, DOI={10.1177/23328584211006163}, abstractNote={Policy observers have expressed concern over whether misalignment between pre-K and K–12 has negative consequences for children. This study considers students’ exposure to redundant content across the pre-K and kindergarten years. Specifically, it asks, to what extent are skills and concepts taught in kindergarten redundant with skills and concepts taught in one state’s public pre-K program, and for whom is redundancy most likely? Overall, findings from teacher surveys show that about 37% of the language, literacy, and math content covered in kindergarten is redundant with content covered in pre-K. The highest rates of redundancy seem to occur for basic (rather than advanced) content items, including the identification of letters and sight words. Moreover, children from families who live at or below the poverty line experience significantly higher rates of redundant content. Implications for policy, practice, and future research are discussed.}, journal={AERA OPEN}, author={Cohen-Vogel, Lora and Little, Michael and Jang, Wonkyung and Burchinal, Margaret and Bratsch-Hines, Mary}, year={2021}, month={Apr} }
 @article{little_2021, title={Nationally Representative Evidence on the Association Between Preschool and Executive Function Skills Throughout Elementary School}, volume={7}, ISSN={["2332-8584"]}, DOI={10.1177/23328584211048399}, abstractNote={Executive function skills are a set of cognitive processes that help individuals to engage in goal-directed behavior and have been linked to benefits in academic achievement and other learning-related outcomes. Recently, there has been interest in understanding how attending center-based preschool may relate to the development of executive function skills. This study used the nationally representative Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 2010–2011 (n ~ 9,270) to examine the association between preschool attendance and executive function skills in each grade of elementary school. The results of the analysis suggest small initial associations of preschool attendance with some subdomains of executive function (working memory) but not others (cognitive flexibility). These associations are heterogenous based on preschool type (i.e., public vs. private). The longitudinal analysis revealed rapid attenuation of initially positive associations, but also some indications of so-called “sleeper effects” emerged in late elementary school for working memory. Implications for research and policy are discussed.}, journal={AERA OPEN}, author={Little, Michael}, year={2021}, month={Sep} }
 @article{merrill_cohen-vogel_little_sadler_lee_2020, title={"Quality" assurance features in state-funded early childhood education: A policy brief}, volume={113}, ISSN={["1873-7765"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.104972}, abstractNote={Abstract Most states in the U.S. now have some form of publicly funded Pre-Kindergarten. This brief asks what they have done to ensure the quality of their programs. It does so by mapping state adoption of three popular program quality assurance features: Early Learning Standards, Kindergarten Entry Assessments, and Tiered Quality Rating and Improvement Systems. We find that all three are now widespread across the American states, despite little research on their effects. We suggest that these quality assurance features need to be subjected to rigorous evaluation tied to their effectiveness in improving student outcomes.}, journal={CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW}, author={Merrill, Becca and Cohen-Vogel, Lora and Little, Michael and Sadler, James and Lee, Kenya}, year={2020}, month={Jun} }
 @article{little_2020, title={Educators' views on the location of Pre-K programs and its relation to features of P-3 alignment: An exploratory study}, volume={118}, ISSN={["1873-7765"]}, DOI={10.1016/j.childyouth.2020.105455}, abstractNote={Abstract Prekindergarten (Pre-K) programs are provided in a variety of different physical locations, including elementary school buildings, Head Start centers, and private child care centers. A recent national survey found that 50 percent of elementary schools have a Pre-K program located in them (Fuller et al., 2018). The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it explores how educators view differences between Pre-K location types. Second, it explores how different Pre-K location types may relate to features of Pre-K through third grade (P-3) alignment—specifically, examining the theory that locating Pre-K programs in elementary schools facilitates features of P-3 alignment. Educators reported significant differences between school- and center-based Pre-K locations, particularly regarding P-3 alignment. I find that locating Pre-K programs in elementary schools, alone, is insufficient to promote features of P-3 alignment; rather, it sets the conditions for local elementary schools to do so. I outline the implications of these findings for policy, practice, and future research.}, journal={CHILDREN AND YOUTH SERVICES REVIEW}, author={Little, Michael}, year={2020}, month={Nov} }
 @article{little_cohen-vogel_sadler_merrill_2020, title={Moving Kindergarten Entry Assessments from Policy to Practice Evidence from North Carolina}, volume={31}, ISSN={["1556-6935"]}, DOI={10.1080/10409289.2020.1724600}, abstractNote={Kindergarten Entry Assessments (KEAs) – assessment tools used at the beginning of kindergarten to provide educators with a snapshot of children’s readiness for school – are increasingly being adopt...}, number={5}, journal={EARLY EDUCATION AND DEVELOPMENT}, author={Little, Michael and Cohen-Vogel, Lora and Sadler, James and Merrill, Becca}, year={2020}, month={Jul}, pages={796–815} }